Speed Racer #3 two Versions ? (1 Viewer)

[Don]

according to dvdsoon there are two versions coming out tuesday. one is from alliance and the other one from universal. anyone know what version to get. http://www.dvdsoon.com/search-result...order=distance

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I would guess that Alliance has the Canadian rights, Universal the U.S. rights, and DVDSoon put the info for both on their site in error.

Regards,

Joe

 

[SeanC]

Lions Gate is the distributor of the Speed Racer sets, so I have no idea what that's all about!

 

[Don]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg there is pic # 1 and here is Pic #2 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....uct&id=1422878

 

[Patrick.C]

Those two packaging pictures are the limited edition "collectors edition" packaging vs. the regular version. On season 1, the limited edition was the rubber tire sleeve. Once the supply ran out, they replaced it with a similar looking, but non-rubber box. On season two, the limited edition was a push button, light up, music playing outer sleeve. The replacement standard box was again similar looking, but non-functional. On this release, the box is an abnormal shape (steering wheel) as seen in the second Best Buy picture. Since they can't issue a standard cardboard replacement, the standard box is what is seen in the first picture. As for the double listings on dvd soon, I have no idea.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Collector's Edition my eye. Give me non-re-jiggered-for-video opening credits, closing credits that don't look like they're from a 4th-generation bootleg, non-time-compressed episodes, and any extras at ALL, and THEN we'll call them Collector's Editions. Otherwise, I'll call them what they are: bare-bones, badly-compressed, bargain-basement editions replete with time-compressed episodes, rejiggered strobey credits, and no extras whatsoever, which is a damn shame seeing that both Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr are still around and would likely be more than willing to help with interviews, commentaries, etc., as they are very active in the fan circles, and attend many conventions. Note to Lion's Gate: ditch the packaging gimmicks and save the cash for extras and proper transfers.

OK, rant over.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr are still around and would likely be more than willing to help with interviews, commentaries, etc.

Jeffrey: Peter and Corrine actually did an audio commentary for the DVD "The Speed Racer Movie", which is nothing more than several episodes of the show strung together and is shown complete with original 60s commercials intact. However, I totally agree that it would be great if they could've gotten them to do commentaries for this "Collector's Edition" instead of giving us such a bare bones release and compressing the hell out of the picture with so many episodes on 1 disc.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Yeah, I've got the Speed Racer Movie on VHS...didn't know there was a commentary on the DVD! Might have to track that down now.

My main beef, besides the lack of extras, is that many episodes are time-compressed, making the music and voices too fast and at the wrong pitch. I know, a lot of people don't notice, but I do, and it can really bug the hell outta me.

 

[Randy B A]

I don't like the case for volume 3. Every one I shook the disc was loose. I think I will wait to see if they eventually put out the keep case version.

You think that the studios would learn from past mistakes. If I remember correctly, nobody liked the Baboons but when Total Recall SE was released.

 

[Kyle Field]

I don't either and it's even more cumbersome and impractical than the first two. I'm hoping that there will indeed be a regular version of volume 3 released which will be easier to store with the rest of my DVDs. These limited edition packaging gimmicks are very annoying.

I noticed that regular version of the Vol. 3 cover before, but thought that might have been the limited edition release since it looks as though the steering wheel is protruding from the box.

Also, what exactly does the original opening look like and how much different is it from what is on these DVDs? And how can you tell these episodes are time compressed?

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

The original opening credits contain "Trans-Lux Corporation Presents" before the "Speed Racer" titles, and are of course not video-generated; the redone opening credits sequence also appears to suffer from some slight frame-dragging issues. I don't know what happened with the closing credits, but the originals don't look like they're from a 4th-generation dupe. I'd really like to know what the hell they were thinking with these transfers.

Re: time-compression, you can tell because the voices are too high in pitch, and also I'd assume the compressed eps run a tad shorter than the uncompressed eps. Trust me, a number of these eps are time-compressed. I know by heart how the voices are supposed to sound, and for some eps they are at a slightly higher pitch throughout.

 

[Kyle Field]

That's interesting. I'm wondering now if the original DVD release of this looks better. I read somewhere that the complete series was previously issued.

 

[Patrick.C]

The closing credits originally had the cars going across the bottom of the screen. The credit text was at the top. For the DVD version, they zoomed in on the cars (which are now full frame) in order to get the original text out of the frame and overlayed the new text on top of the cars.

For anyone that was wondering about the new package and the loose sounding disc inside, there is no hub at all inside the can. Just a piece of foam. The disc is free to move around a little bit inside the can.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Kyle, to my knowledge the entire series has never been previously issued on DVD. Perhaps the original Japanese show "Mach Go Go Go" was in Japan, but not Speed Racer.

BTW, the song was re-recorded, too.

Here are the differences between the original broadcast version and the DVD (and modern-day broadcasts) being discussed:

















These changes in the titles are too bad, but let's also not forget the greater good that caused them.

These shows have been reassembled from DRASTICALLY better source material. Not just the 16mm dupes of the Japanese show used to make the US version, I mean they have (in my opinion) gotten new prints struck of the original Japanese show and re-edited it to conform to the US version.

Naturally, this means the old English titles had to be redone (in the video realm this time, instead of optically), which is a shame, but geez, look at how much better the picture is. Not even the original negatives of the US version could look this good. (As in the case of Battle of the Planets, cheap 16mm dupes of the Japanese version were commissioned by the producers to make the US version, and it has always showed.)

It is curious that the end credits background material is so poor. Perhaps it wasn't part of the original Japanese show (I've never seen it "raw") and was commissioned just for Speed Racer. If that's the case, then 16mm dupe footage would be all that's left, and THAT is how the entire episodes would look if this remastering hadn't been done.

This wasn't done just for the DVDs. These changes first appeared, to my knowledge, in MTV airings in the early 90s.

Now, I'd agree that the time compression and interlacing/pulldown artifacts are unfortunate. These DVDs could have certainly been done better. But let's not wish too hard for it to look like it used to, for that was a muddy, grainy mess.

P.S. Mind you, it didn't look as bad as my grabs are, for they're from an old SLP VHS dub. But still...

 

[Carlos Garcia]

They did use what appears to be the same closing credits that were shown in syndication on Cartoon Network, which included the incorrect credit of Jack "Crimes" instead of the correct Jack "Grimes". I remember someone released several VHS volumes of Speed Racer episodes back in the late 80s that contained complete episodes which contained the original episode opening and closing credits. Also, there was a DVD out a few yrs ago called "Speed Racer - The Movie" which was nothing more than 3 episodes of the show edited together, and comes complete with original vintage TV commercials from the 60s in between the shows. That DVD is supposed to contain an audio commentary by Peter Fernandez and Corrine Orr. Does anyone have that DVD? If so, can you tell us if the episodes on the DVD contain the original Trans-Lux opening and correct closing credits of the show?

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

There was also an extremely limited edition collectors set of all the episodes on DVD a few years ago. It's long OOP, of course. I'd love to know what the quality looked like on that, and if the original Trans-Lux credits were retained.

I can live with the redone credits, but the time-compression and total lack of extras is inexcusable, especially when they're being marketed as "Limited Collector's Edition"s. And, I just saw the packaging for the new set in the store tonight, and boy...what a bad idea. At least the other two sets contained real DVD cases with inserts under the funky packaging.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

As Jeffrey said, there was a previous release with all episodes out on DVD. I believe it costs hundreds of dollars. I never saw it as I didn't buy it. Too rich for my blood.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I bought it and then sold it on ebay. The picture was terribly compressed. In fact, in a couple of episodes where it rains, it looked like small little blocks filled the entire screen...you could barely make out what you were watching. It was awful. The new releases look far better than that set did.